Medical Tourism in India: A Complete Roadmap for International Patients & Healthcare Businesses

MEDICAL TOURISM IN INDIA : A COMPLETE ROADMAP FOR PATIENTS AND BUSINESSES 

 

Medical tourism of India has become one of the most globally accepted and prevalent sectors in the healthcare industry. Every year, thousands of international patients visit India and different states of India for different treatments with a comparatively lower cost. 

 

India provides international patients with affordable rates and charges of any treatment or procedure. It also provides a good care unit and advanced medical treatment and technologies with good hospitality. From complex cardiac surgery and treatments to cancer treatments, organ transplants and other treatments like cosmetic surgery and others are also available treatment in India conducted by the best specialists in every field and professionals with a long term experience. 

 

There are certain factors that really help India to grow in the field of healthcare, the factors including Accredited hospitals, shorter waiting and consultation time, budget friendly treatment, personalized patient care, and other facilities. 

 

The advanced facilities and technologies have attracted more international patients to get their treatment from India and this helped India in gaining a standard position  for being one of the most chosen countries for healthcare facilities. 

 

Medical tourism in India has developed significantly over the last few years. India is supported by the government with a good medical infrastructure, advanced facilities, digital health services and others that help international patients connect online as well for a better roadmap with the doctors and to figure out the whole process. The country continues to attract patients from Africa, the middle-east, South Asia, Europe and North America. 

 

Understanding how medical tourism works in India is very important for both the patients and the treatment and explore all the opportunities in this expanding sector. Selecting an appropriate hospital is also important and after booking appointments the Visa application is also important. 

 

WHAT IS MEDICAL TOURISM IN INDIA ? 

 

Medical tourism refers to the practice of international patients travelling to India for proper treatment, to receive medical treatment, surgery, diagnostic service, rehabilitation and others with a budget friendly amount and accessible treatments. 

India provides both high quality treatment, hospitality combined with a comparatively less amount of treatment cost. This allows international patients to get world class treatment and save money as well. The country is considered home for international attention for healthcare, highly experienced doctors and skilled operators. India provides treatment with highly complex procedures with more safety and security. 

 

India covers a high range of medical healthcare services, some of them are 

• Cardiac and Heart Surgeries 

• Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment 

• Orthopedic procedures like Knee Replacement, Hip replacement and others. 

• Organ Transplantation 

• IVF and Fertility Treatments 

• Cosmetic and plastic Surgery 

• Dental Care and Oral Surgery 

• Neurology and Neurosurgery 

• Ophthalmology and Eye care 

• Preventive health check ups and wellness therapies.

 

One of the main reasons behind international patients choosing India for healthcare purposes is solely because of the quality treatment and significantly lower cost rates as per the other countries. India helps in saving a 50 - 60% of the amount while receiving treatment. 

 

WHY DO PATIENTS PREFER INDIA FOR MEDICAL TOURISM

 

India has become one of the most trusted destination for healthcare and it offers certain benefits to the international patients, mainly the benefits are : 

 

• Affordable treatment cost with great treatment and service quality. 

• Internationally accredited hospitals, including facilities enhanced by the global healthcare organization. 

• Qualified doctors, specialists and professionals who are well skilled and highly experienced. 

• Advanced medical technology that can help in accurate data and help in faster detections and treatments. 

• Short waiting period for both consultation and treatment, helping patients coming from international places to save time. 

• Personalized care and separate department for international patients and multilingual support from the doctors and consultants. 

•  A good medical facilitator who provides opinions on hospitals to choose, packages to choose and other accommodation, transportation and post treatment treatment follow up. 

 

As a medical tourism industry, doctors and other medical facilitators are trying their best to provide better treatment everyday and enhance services to deliver them easily to the patients. 

 

HOW IS MEDICAL TOURISM OPERATED IN INDIA ?

Understanding how medical tourism of India is operated helps patients in planning all the treatments, consultations and procedures related to their treatments. In operating medical tourism, the facilitators provide end-to-end support to the people and the patients. 

The main steps included to operate medical tourism in India are : 

 

• Step 1. MEDICAL INSPECTION : 

• The journey starts with the patient searching for a potential medical facilitator be it a hospital or a medical tourism company in India. The patients are asked to share their previous medical records, all the prescriptions, tests, problems and other necessary documents. These documents help doctors to understand the case and then give their advice according to the case or problem. This helps in creating a proper roadmap of what needs to be done. 

• Step 2. MEDICAL REVIEW AND EVALUATION PLAN : 

• In the very next step the doctors evaluate and review the documents of medical history and the current situation of the patient. This helps in strategizing the whole process of the patient’s treatment and make a clear roadmap of the procedure and consult with the patient about it. This helps in keeping the treatment more organized 

• Step 3. APPROXIMATION OF COST AND TREATMENT PLAN : 

• In this step after the roadmap is ready and to be executed, the estimation of cost and treatment plans are confirmed. This includes estimated treatment duration, doctor’s fees, investigation costs and other medicational expenses. This helps in making an overall cost plan and treatment plans. 

 

• Step 4. MEDICAL VISA GUIDE : 

• After confirming all the procedures and other roadmaps, the patients can apply for a medical Indian visa. Most medical tourism companies help with the documentation and other invitation letters from doctors and appointments signed by the doctor to help in faster application and approval of visa. 

• Step 5. TRAVELLING PICKUP AND DROP TRANSPORT FACILITY : 

• Once the visa is confirmed, the travel arrangements begin where the companies help in planning the dates and other transports like booking flight accordingly, providing a car to pick up from their house and drop at the Airport, and the same in India as well. Many also offer language interpreters who help in decoding languages and explaining. 

• TREATMENT AT THE BEST HOSPITALS : 

• After arriving in India, the patient undergoes some tests and pre-surgical procedures needed according to their diagnosis. After checking everything the patients are shifted to an accredited hospital for the best treatment with experienced and skilled specialists and professionals providing the best treatment including modern technology.  

• RECOVERY, REHABILITATION AND FOLLOW UP CARE 

• After the treatment, surgery or the procedures needed for the diagnosis are performed, the patient eventually is into the recovery stage. Patients who need surgery also need rehabilitation and regular health monitoring, and before recovering totally from it they are not allowed to go home. Once they are fit enough to travel, they are sent home. After going back to their home country, they can consult the doctor if any further problems arise or for online follow up consultations.   

 

WHY MEDICAL TOURISM IS ESSENTIAL IN INDIA ? 

 

1. FOREIGN EXCHANGE REVENUE - 

Medical tourism in India helps in generating a certain amount from the foreign currency through different patients coming to India for medical help, as they spend transportation money, doctor’s consultation fees and others in India to Indian agencies and Indian hospitals, it indirectly generates foreign income into India. 

 

2. GENERATES MORE EMPLOYMENT : 

This industry creates or generates more doctors, nurses, helpers and other hospital staff as more patients increase in different categories of the healthcare field. As patients increase, job opportunities also increase which is good for the Indian citizens. Employment also includes medical facilitators, providers and arrangement makers who plan the roadmap of different international patients. 

 

3. ENHANCES HEALTHCARE INFRASTRUCTURE : 

Increasing foreign patient’s demand, Indian healthcare tries to bring about a lot more changes in infrastructure and modern technologies. This helps in treatment of both international and domestic patients. 

 

4. STRENGTHENS GLOBAL REPUTATION : 

A good quality treatment and different successful treatments create an impression on other international patients and helps in enhancing global reputation overall. This helps in bringing or inviting more international patients to get their treatment from India. This gives India a trusted position for healthcare facilities across the world. 

 

5. UPHOLDS ECONOMIC GROWTH : 

Medical tourism just does not promote healthcare, it also promotes other connected fields like aviation, pharmaceuticals, hospitality, local transportation and tourism including staying and eating. All this together adds up to the benefits of more international patients. 

 

6. IMPROVES MEDICAL CONVENIENCE FOR OTHERS : 

The expansion of medical facilities and services also help the domestic patients in getting proper treatment as well. This is also good for the Indian citizens equally and applicable to them as well. 

 

WHAT ARE THE OPPORTUNITIES OF MEDICAL TOURISM IN INDIA ? 

The Future of Medical Tourism in India is promising with affordable treatment cost, world class treatments, skilled specialists and other facilities. There are certain opportunities that increase global demand for quality, healthcare and better hospitality. 

 

GROWING DEMANDS FOR SPECIALIZED TREATMENTS : 

 

• Orthopedic Treatment - International patients frequently visit India for orthopedic treatments like Bones & Joint Replacement, Spine surgery, sports injury treatment and others. 

• Cardiac Surgery - India is considered as one of the most known destinations for high quality cardiac treatments. Cardiac treatments include Heart surgery, Bypass Surgery, Valve replacement, and other. 

• Cancer Care - Oncology services like chemotherapy, Radiotherapy, immunotherapy and other cancer surgeries are also conducted. 

• Organ Transplant - India offers modern treatment of liver, kidney, bone marrow transplant and other organ transplant procedures. 

• IVF and Fertility Treatment - Indian Healthcare provides a high success rate in IVF and Fertility Treatments that help couples with better reproductive services. 

• Cosmetic Surgery - Patients choose India for Plastic Surgery, hair transplants, and other aesthetic treatments. 

• Dental Treatment - High quality dental implants, tooth replacement and other beauty dental treatments are well known in India. 

• Neurology Treatment - India provides modern treatment with brain and spine disorders, epilepsy treatments and stroke management. 

 

FACTORS HELPING IN GROWTH OF MEDICAL TOURISM : 

 

1. Government Support - The Indian government supports the healthcare fields to help them in encouraging more international patients. 

2. Rising Medical costs around the world - Patients seek affordable but high qua;ity treatment, which is without compromising the medical standards. 

3. Digital Services - Online consultations, follow ups, digital medical records, and virtual support from the patients help in better communication

4. Enhance Healthcare Infrastructure - Modern technologies help in getting advanced treatment with trained specialists to continue in helping India to be one of the best destinations for healthcare. 

THE COUNTRIES THAT CHOOSE INDIA FOR MEDICAL TOURISM : 

 

India brings about thousands of international patients every year from different places and every patient trusts India’s healthcare system to be one of the most trustworthy. 

 

Mostly people are from 

1. Africa : 

 

African patients are mostly seen with health problems surrounding orthopedic issues, kidney transplants, cancer care and others. Key countries are

• Nigeria 

• Kenya 

• Tanzania 

• Uganda 

• Ghana

• Ethiopia 

 

2. Middle East : 

 

Patients from the Middle East come to India to get more cost effective treatment that will be budget friendly but with standard medical care. Main countries are : 

• Oman

• UAE 

• Iraq 

• Yemen

• Saudi Arabia 

 

3. South Asia : 

 

Many patients from neighbouring countries choose India as one of the most trustworthy destinations, some of the countries are : 

• Bangladesh

• Nepal 

• Sri Lanka 

• Maldives 

 

Other countries from Europe, North America and others seek medical help in India at times. These include : 

• Russia 

• Uzbekistan 

• Kazakhstan 

• United Kingdom (UK) 

• United States (US) 

 

THE STATES IN INDIA BEST FOR MEDICAL TOURISM : 

 

Several Indian states now have become best hubs for medical treatments for both domestic and international patients. Some of the best states are : 

 

Delhi - 

 

Delhi is the most advanced with modern technological treatments and procedures. It is known for its multi-speciality hospitals. 

 

Maharashtra - 

 

Maharashtra, home for Pune, Mumbai and other cities, provide better technological medical treatment in fields of cardiology, oncology, Orthopedics, organ transplants and others. 

 

Tamil Nadu - 

 

In Tamil Nadu there is high quality treatment with skilled and specialised doctors with long term experience and advanced skills as well. 

 

Karnataka - 

 

Bangalore is well known for healthcare systems and hospitality, advanced medical technology, neurology, robotic surgery, organ transplant and others. 

 

Kerala - 

 

Kerala is well known for its combination of both advanced technology and ayurvedic medications. It is known for wellness therapies, rehabilitation and others. 

 

Telangana - 

 

Hyderabad is known for offering budget friendly yet high quality hospitality and healthcare units, mostly specialized in organ transplants, oncology, cardiology etc. 

 

MERITS AND DEMERITS : 

There are certain advantages and disadvantages of Medical Tourism as well. 

 

Merits : 

• The treatment costs are more or less affordable and budget friendly. 

• High skilled doctors, experienced operators and well trained specialists are consulted 

• Modern hospitality is maintained with advanced technology and internationally facilitated hospitals. 

• Very minimal or short waiting period, where people have this opportunity to talk to the doctor and consult freely and the treatment time is reduced. 

• Multilingual or english speaking doctors and staffs who can communicate with the patients more easily 

• A good patient support is needed, so the patients get the support through medical tourism agencies who facilitate visas, consultation appointments, airport transfers, accommodation, and post treatment coordination. 

 

Demerits 

There are many merits but there are demerits as well, some of the main demerits are: 

• Language barriers like different languages from international patients coming from different places are mostly unable to understand certain words and are unable to consult the doctor properly. 

• Post treatment follow up problems may occur due to the distance and time management, and it requires online consultation which may at times be hard to understand. 

• Travelling related problems like sudden travel during any emergency, whether a patient will be able to travel a long way after any surgery is an important concern as well. 

 

EXPANSION OF MEDICAL TOURISM INDUSTRY IN INDIA : 

 

India’s medical tourism industry is increasing each day and its expansion is now hard to track. India is becoming well known because of the low budget but with high quality of hospitality and treatment. 

 

Key expansion factors are : 

 

• Targeting a budget after monitoring the whole market of healthcare, because this can help in better procession of budgets as patients search for budget friendly yet standard treatment. This can help medical tourism grow more.   

 

• By giving more liability and comparatively less pressure on finance and lowering the costs, India can grow more in terms of medical tourism. It is important to promote more international patient arrivals through such criterias that can attract patients to choose India and its healthcare system. 

 

• Expansion of private healthcare hospitals is important as international patients mostly aim to get admitted or get treatment under accredited hospitals with great facilities and budget friendly treatment cost. 

• Medical Visa facilitation has become easier because of the Indian  medical tourism facilitators who help international patients to get visas as fast as possible and help them get the treatment from the best hospitals in India. 

 

SERVICES PROVIDED BY MEDICAL TOURISM IN INDIA : 

 

Medical tourism facilitators in India provide a good amount of services overall that help patients to ensure smooth execution of roadmaps made by the patients for the treatment. These services help the patients to get post treatment consultation and guidance as well. 

 

The services offered are - 

 

• Hospital choosing - choosing a hospital is very important for the roadmap, the patients with the help of the facilitators choose hospitals according to their diagnosis and their own comfort. 

• Appointing doctors - the very next and crucial service is appointing the doctors who are specialized in the field of the patient’s diagnosis. This is also done by the facilitators as they have more knowledge about doctors and hospitality. 

• Medical Visa- medical Visa is provided by the facilitators to the patients through various steps and applications and invitations from doctors that help in faster processing of the Visa. 

• Airport Transportation - transportation from airport and to the airport that is pick up and drop off, both are provided by the Medical tourism agency and the facilitators. This helps in better convenience of the patients without any inconvenience. 

• Multilingual facility - agencies help in facilitating patients with the doctors who are expert at different languages and help them in communicating better. 

• Post treatment follow ups - post treatment follow ups are organized by the facilitators helping them in getting a routed online checkup and asking any queries, if needed. 

 

HOW TO START UP MEDICAL TOURISM BUSINESS IN INDIA 

 

Starting a medical tourism business startup is a challenging task in this competitive field but it is also a rewarding opportunity if you successfully build the business. There are certain important ways to make a healthy yet growing startup, the main factors are : 

 

1. Perform market research - 

 

Identify the countries you want to target, the patient demographics, the treatments high in demand such as cardiology, oncology, orthopedics and others. 

 

2. Setup your business - 

 

Choose an appropriate structure on how to build your business and have aims on what should be claimed. This creates a motivation for the business and growth of the business as well. 

 

3. Enhance and grow international networks 

 

Growing international networks is important to get more clients from around the world, this also helps in getting varieties of patients to know about your business and promote your business worldwide. 

 

4. Develop services to support patients

 

Developing services like visa support and applications for faster travel, making roadmaps, pickup and drop off to the airport and other services needed by the patients are to be done carefully without any problems on the patient. 

 

5. Create personal website 

 

Create a personal website so that people can know more about you and your business and about what you provide. Write the services clearly in the website and keep the website more reliable with different CTAs (call to actions) and others. 

 

6. Build partnership with different hospitals 

 

Building partnerships with different types of hospitals is important for the connection and to build a good network among the hospitals for better experience with the patients. 

 

7. Launch digital Marketing campaign  

 

It is important to build online campaigns that can help you in promoting your business and building awareness about your business more. This can be done through social media platforms, google ads and SEOs. For this you need an expert digital marketing agency for your medical tourism company or business like IT Wiz Infotech.

 

HOW TO PUBLICIZE MEDICAL TOURISM IN INDIA : 

 

Promoting a medical tourism business requires a combination of digital marketing and local SEO with offline networks. A well planned strategy can help in boosting patients to prefer your business more and keep your brand reliable. 

 

Some of the important ways to enhance your business are : 

 

1. Content marketing - content marketing like writing SEO optimized blogs, short reels, vlogs and other pictures can help in spreading awareness about your business. 

2. Google Ads - Run targeted google ads that can help in promoting to the targeted audiences, for them to reach out your business more. 

3. Social media Marketing - giving reviews of different doctors, patients and others for making your page more trustworthy and showing proper engagement. 

4. International Collaboration - collaborating with different types of patients, doctors and agencies can expand your international network. 

5. Video marketing - Create videos showing hospitality and other facilities of your business teams and creating videos to help people understand about the business and the services more. 

 

OBSTRUCTIONS FACED BY MEDICAL TOURISM IN INDIA - 

 

Despite its rapid growth in the field of healthcare, India still faces a lot of problems that occur due to several reasons, some of the main challenges are : 

• Increasement in competition - 

Competition in this field is increasing day by day due to more awareness about such agencies, that many people are preferring startup businesses in India with the same facilities. 

 

• Building trust among patients - 

It is very important to have trust and transparency among the patients that will further help in building a proper bond between the facilitators and the patients. 

• Language differences -

Language differences are one of the biggest problems in this field because there is this need to understand the language of different patients.  

There are certainly more issues that can  be seen in this business field. 

 

FUTURE OF MEDICAL TOURISM OF INDIA 

 

The future of medical tourism in India is promising enough due to the growth and awareness of the business that has been seen and it is more or less connected to digital marketing. 

Some of the major portion of future of  medical tourism is because : 

• International demand growth - growing international demand is more because the patients are getting more budget friendly treatment in India. 

• Enhancement of specialized treatment - enhancement of specialized treatment like main treatments like Cardiology, Oncology, Orthopedics, organ transplants etc. 

• Initiatives Supported by government - some initiatives supported by the government are important like government policies, visa procedures etc. 

• Growth of hospital investment - leading hospitals are gaining more investment with medical advanced technologies, and other highly accredited hospitals. 

 

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION (FAQs) - 

 

1. What is medical tourism in India ? 

 

Medical tourism in India refers to international patients travelling to India to get treatment at a budget friendly cost and good hospitality. 

 

2. Why do foreign patients prefer India for treatment ? 

 

International patients prefer India for low budget treatment, for good specialists and skilled doctors and better modern technology. 

 

3. How much can International patients save in India for treatment ? 

 

International patients can save up to 50% to 70% on treatment costs as compared to other countries. 

 

4. Can I start a medical tourism business in India?

 

Yes, you can start a business of medical tourism in India, there will be challenge but the business is good for further growth as many are now aware of this business 

 

5. Which cities are best for Medical Tourism ? 

 

Cities best for Medical tourism are mainly Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kochi, Bengaluru and others. 

 

6. What medical treatments are specialized in India ? 

 

India is well known for cardiac surgery, cancer treatment, Orthopedic surgery, organ transplantation, IVF and fertility treatment, cosmetic surgery, dental care, and neurological treatment. Dental tourism is the best way to attract international patients and you need best dental marketing agency for dental tourism business for your clinic.

 

CONCLUSION - 

India continues to be one of the best budget friendly destinations for healthcare for international patients who seek affordable and budget friendly treatment but of good hospitality. 

India has been seen to have good hospitality, with specialized doctors, professionals and great surgeons and operators who are well experienced and significantly costs a lot less than the other countries. 

 

Whether you are seeking cardiac surgery, neuro surgery, organ transplants, kidney transplantation, fertility treatments or others, India is one of the best destinations for all these treatments. It has a trusted medical tourism and a better roadmap of every treatment, especially the specialized treatments. 

 

In this case,the Medical Tourism Agency like Medivoyage can help international patients to navigate every step they take and help their medical journey and focuses on what matters the most, that is better health and fast recovery.